This Nail Polish Could Prevent Rape

It changes color when it comes in contact with date rape drugs. Would you wear it?

Imagine if, just by stirring your cocktail with your finger, you could know if certain date rape drugs were in it. That's the premise behind Undercover Colors, a nail polish that switches its hue when it comes in contact with date rape drugs such as Rohypnol, Xanax, and GHB.

"As we were thinking about big problems in our society, the topic of drug-facilitated sexual assault came up," Ankesh Madan, one of the four male founders (all of whom are undergrads at North Carolina State University) explained to Higher Education Works. "All of us have been close to someone who has been through the terrible experience, and we began to focus on finding a way to help prevent the crime. We wanted to focus on preventive solutions, especially those that could be integrated into products that women already use."

According to Undercover Colors' Facebook page, the men's hope is to help women protect themselves. They call themselves "the first fashion company empowering women to prevent sexual assault," and explain, "through this nail polish and similar technologies, we hope to make potential perpetrators afraid to spike a woman’s drink because there’s now a risk that they can get caught. In effect, we want to shift the fear from the victims to the perpetrators."

While the fault in sexual assault lies strictly with the perpetrator and not the victim, we're all for empowerment. Many others are on board, too: The group recently won N.C. State's Entrepreneurship Initiative's 2014 Lulu eGames and, at press time, had more than 39,000 Facebook likes.

The nail polish is still in the research and development stages—and it's worth noting that alcohol (which the polish wouldn't test for) is the primary drug used to facilitate rape. Still, it's a clever idea. If you'd like to help fund it, visit Undercover Colors' donations page.